Why I don’t trust Hobb’s judgement anymore...

[ru1869]

people are wondering why Hobbs didn’t fire Ash after last year instead of letting him coach four more games this year only to fire him now.

I thought about it too and cannot come up with a good or logical reason for not firing Ash after last season.

Hobbs said that he wanted to give Ash the opportunity to show “significant Improvement” this year, but based on what??!!!

What changed or what was going to change between last season and this season?

How could Hobbs have any reasonable expectation of significant improvement for this year??!!

Was Ash going to suddenly change into Urban Myers?

Was Ash going to bring in significant talent to help the team?

Was Ash going to develop our current players into B1G quality players?

Were our players going to magically increase their speed?

I just do not understand what Hobbs thought would change between last year and this to even have a hope of Ash producing significant improvement.

In short, Hobbs set up Ash and our football program for failure, not success.

Not logical at all.

Hobbs May be a good fundraiser, but his judgement with hiring and firing football coaches is highly questionable.

He really needs help where our football program is concerned.

Hobbs, please seek help from someone knowledgeable about football and who has Rutgers’ best interests at heart.

Otherwise you might get fooled again or screw things up worst then you did already.

 

[ru1869]

people are wondering why Hobbs didn’t fire Ash after last year instead of letting him coach four more games this year only to fire him now.

I thought about it too and cannot come up with a good or logical reason for not firing Ash after last season.

Hobbs said that he wanted to give Ash the opportunity to show “significant Improvement” this year, but based on what??!!!

What changed or what was going to change between last season and this season?

How could Hobbs have any reasonable expectation of significant improvement for this year??!!

Was Ash going to suddenly change into Urban Myers?

Was Ash going to bring in significant talent to help the team?

Was Ash going to develop our current players into B1G quality players?

Were our players going to magically increase their speed?

I just do not understand what Hobbs thought would change between last year and this to even have a hope of Ash producing significant improvement.

In short, Hobbs set up Ash and our football program for failure, not success.

Not logical at all.

Hobbs May be a good fundraiser, but his judgement with hiring and firing football coaches is highly questionable.

He really needs help where our football program is concerned.

Hobbs, please seek help from someone knowledgeable about football and who has Rutgers’ best interests at heart.

Otherwise you might get fooled again or screw things up worst then you did already.

1 A moment ago

 

[Steve91562]

It's simple: Hobbs didn't fire Ash last year, because Ash was essentially under a seven year deal, with four years remaining on the contract, and Hobbs hoping Ash could turn it around w/o the school eating ten million dollars. Ten million which probably came from future revenue sources. After deciding to keep him last year, I'm not sure firing Ash this early in the season accomplishes anything substantive, unless you're going to identify a replacement pronto (ie., within the next couple weeks).

The running of the FB program has been a total cluster flub, from choosing the wrong guy, binding him to the university too long, cancelling the UCLA game (and paying them), to scheduling Syracuse and BC, poor recruiting, the CC scandal, until we get to the rock and the hard place between keeping Ash or paying him 10 million to go away.

Hobbs will get another chance to correct his mistakes. Lets just hope he has learned from them. And lets hope someone is whispering in his ear, "recruiting, recruiting, recruiting."

 

[ashokan]

Hobbs made a big mistake extending Ash based on nothing much. Then he was compelled to give Ash extra time, to try and justify giving him the extension. Folly extended folly, and then firing Ash midseason was due to not firing him last season when it would have been wise. No question Hobbs made a lot of mistakes for RU football. It will take more years to turn this mess around.

Recruiting will be a mess this year and probably next year if not more. Can't play a B1G schedule with leftovers. RU will be stealing players from Amy and Lehigh again.

As a long time Army follower, I think I see the same problems that cost Army 15 years. Bad coaches, bad players, bad bureaucrats and bad ADs. Every bad component wants another bad component to turn things around. It took a good superintendent and AD to get Army in right direction. I don't think Hobbs knows football and I dont think RU admins care that much (and now there's turnover)

 

[MCY]

I'm not sure whether or not I trust his judgement, but I would have hoped that some of the professional business people (the outside donors) would have been yelling in his ear about the pipeline, or lack thereof of talent.

To put in simple business terms, today's pipeline are tomorrow's sales (or in football terms - today's recruits are tomorrow's wins or losses). Anybody with half a brain could see that Ash was bringing in 1 or 2 guys per class that belonged on a P5 team. Sure you can disregard "stars" all you want and yes it is imperfect and yes you can find a diamond in the rough here and there, yada yada yada. However, when you are getting guys with non-P5 offers (as their only offers) you are in trouble. To make matters worse the recruitment of lineman had, I believe, 1 guy over 4 classes that projected to be B1G worthy and I'm not even sure he is on the team anymore.

I think that Hobbs' background - from a basketball school - didn't give him the experience necessary to think beyond tomorrow. In basketball a few players can make a huge difference and in a relatively short time period. This is true in most sports, but extremely difficult, if not impossible to do in football.

We all know that you win in the trenches and we have horrendous line play, especially on offense. Then you need a QB, another whiff by Ash. Heck, Ash the defensive guy couldn't even recruit a single stud on the defensive side of the ball (at least I can't think of any).

Again, anyone paying attention to recruiting would have seen the trend - down, down, down - and to bring this guy back for another year was simply shocking. Unfortunately for us faithful we just kicked the can down the road another 5 years as I truly believe it will take us that long to get to a bowl - we simply have zero talent up front - and very limited elsewhere.

 

[krup]

people are wondering why Hobbs didn’t fire Ash after last year instead of letting him coach four more games this year only to fire him now.

I thought about it too and cannot come up with a good or logical reason for not firing Ash after last season.

Hobbs said that he wanted to give Ash the opportunity to show “significant Improvement” this year, but based on what??!!!

What changed or what was going to change between last season and this season?

How could Hobbs have any reasonable expectation of significant improvement for this year??!!

Was Ash going to suddenly change into Urban Myers?

Was Ash going to bring in significant talent to help the team?

Was Ash going to develop our current players into B1G quality players?

Were our players going to magically increase their speed?

I just do not understand what Hobbs thought would change between last year and this to even have a hope of Ash producing significant improvement.

In short, Hobbs set up Ash and our football program for failure, not success.

Not logical at all.

Hobbs May be a good fundraiser, but his judgement with hiring and firing football coaches is highly questionable.

He really needs help where our football program is concerned.

Hobbs, please seek help from someone knowledgeable about football and who has Rutgers’ best interests at heart.

Otherwise you might get fooled again or screw things up worst then you did already.

Trust his judgement anymore? People who weren't fixated on his fundraising haven't trusted him for a while, and even that big positive that was supposedly in his corner faded after so many times of hearing how we "couldn't afford" to get rid of Ash last year.

We are just a bunch of idiots arguing on a football message board, and 90% of us could figure out last year that 1) there was nothing substantive about the team that would suggest improvement (and in fact the play on the lines guaranteed continued struggle), and 2) there was going to be a huge financial impact in the form of reduced season ticket sales if they kept Ash.

Now Hobbs is so surprised by these two things he fires a coach after four games and if anything causes further damage.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

Ash was never extended, it was built into the contract if we got NCAA sanctions, that would had been there no matter who was hired. It wasn't an Ash thing. It had zero to do with Ash.

Hobbs stated that he didn't fire Ash last year because he wanted to show any new HC that they will get as much time as possible to turn things around as long as there is improvement. No good HC will want to take this job if we have a quick trigger to fire the HC if they can't turn it around quick. Since, look at this team, no one is doing that.

 

[krup]

Ash was never extended, it was built into the contract if we got NCAA sanctions, that would had been there no matter who was hired. It wasn't an Ash thing. It had zero to do with Ash.

Hobbs stated that he didn't fire Ash last year because he wanted to show any new HC that they will get as much time as possible to turn things around as long as there is improvement. No good HC will want to take this job if we have a quick trigger to fire the HC if they can't turn it around quick. Since, look at this team, no one is doing that.

It was a poor contract. It should have been written that the automatic extension came into effect if Rutgers received a certain level of substantive sanctions (like losing scholarships).

Instead, he got a two year extension because Rutgers lost 10% of their on campus visits by recruits, 10% of the days coaches were allowed to leave campus to visit recruits, and a $5000 fine.

 

[RU4Real]

WRT the OP, it apparently needs to be pointed out for the umpteenth time that the Athletic Director's name is not "Hobb".

 

[krup]

Ash was never extended, it was built into the contract if we got NCAA sanctions, that would had been there no matter who was hired. It wasn't an Ash thing. It had zero to do with Ash.

Hobbs stated that he didn't fire Ash last year because he wanted to show any new HC that they will get as much time as possible to turn things around as long as there is improvement. No good HC will want to take this job if we have a quick trigger to fire the HC if they can't turn it around quick. Since, look at this team, no one is doing that.

If Hobbs kept Ash largely because he wanted to show any new coach they would get as much time as possible, then he proved he is even more of an idiot to fire Ash this week.

Someone looking at this job is going to be more disturbed that we would fire a coach 4 games into a season than they would be that we fired a coach after going 7-29 in three seasons.

 

[Knight Shift]

WRT the OP, it apparently needs to be pointed out for the umpteenth time that the Athletic Director's name is not "Hobb".

Maybe he is hobbled by the whole situation.

 

[rutgersguy1]

It was a poor contract. It should have been written that the automatic extension came into effect if Rutgers received a certain level of substantive sanctions (like losing scholarships).

Instead, he got a two year extension because Rutgers lost 10% of their on campus visits by recruits, 10% of the days coaches were allowed to leave campus to visit recruits, and a $5000 fine.

I've mentioned that too I don't think it had to be auto extension for minimal sanctions...it should have been based on severity. I've already given the example of Rhule's contract at Baylor. He got 7 years from Baylor for all their problems...how are we giving essentially 6-8 for nothing even close? I don't accept this well it's the standard and whether you did something egregious or something minimal you get the same amount of years...doesn't make sense. If he needed it move on to someone else...there are always candidates with a resume worthy of an opportunity.

 

[Plum Street]

people are wondering why Hobbs didn’t fire Ash after last year instead of letting him coach four more games this year only to fire him now.

I thought about it too and cannot come up with a good or logical reason for not firing Ash after last season.

Hobbs said that he wanted to give Ash the opportunity to show “significant Improvement” this year, but based on what??!!!

What changed or what was going to change between last season and this season?

How could Hobbs have any reasonable expectation of significant improvement for this year??!!

Was Ash going to suddenly change into Urban Myers?

Was Ash going to bring in significant talent to help the team?

Was Ash going to develop our current players into B1G quality players?

Were our players going to magically increase their speed?

I just do not understand what Hobbs thought would change between last year and this to even have a hope of Ash producing significant improvement.

In short, Hobbs set up Ash and our football program for failure, not success.

Not logical at all.

Hobbs May be a good fundraiser, but his judgement with hiring and firing football coaches is highly questionable.

He really needs help where our football program is concerned.

Hobbs, please seek help from someone knowledgeable about football and who has Rutgers’ best interests at heart.

Otherwise you might get fooled again or screw things up worst then you did already.

Well said. Ash should have been fired last year. He would have made yesterday closer. Bringing him back/firing him has created a circus

 

[BlockR]

people are wondering why Hobbs didn’t fire Ash after last year instead of letting him coach four more games this year only to fire him now.

I thought about it too and cannot come up with a good or logical reason for not firing Ash after last season.

Hobbs said that he wanted to give Ash the opportunity to show “significant Improvement” this year, but based on what??!!!

What changed or what was going to change between last season and this season?

How could Hobbs have any reasonable expectation of significant improvement for this year??!!

Was Ash going to suddenly change into Urban Myers?

Was Ash going to bring in significant talent to help the team?

Was Ash going to develop our current players into B1G quality players?

Were our players going to magically increase their speed?

I just do not understand what Hobbs thought would change between last year and this to even have a hope of Ash producing significant improvement.

In short, Hobbs set up Ash and our football program for failure, not success.

Not logical at all.

Hobbs May be a good fundraiser, but his judgement with hiring and firing football coaches is highly questionable.

He really needs help where our football program is concerned.

Hobbs, please seek help from someone knowledgeable about football and who has Rutgers’ best interests at heart.

Otherwise you might get fooled again or screw things up worst then you did already.

Hopefully Greg Brown pushes his weight around and brings in an outside person to review the whole football program and NOT allow Hobbs to make the football hire.
This whole dumpster fire mess was CREATED BY HOBBS.

 

[Joey Bags]

WRT the OP, it apparently needs to be pointed out for the umpteenth time that the Athletic Director's name is not "Hobb".

Ol’ Roy Hobb at it again

 

[knightfan7]

Ash was never extended, it was built into the contract if we got NCAA sanctions, that would had been there no matter who was hired. It wasn't an Ash thing. It had zero to do with Ash.

Hobbs stated that he didn't fire Ash last year because he wanted to show any new HC that they will get as much time as possible to turn things around as long as there is improvement. No good HC will want to take this job if we have a quick trigger to fire the HC if they can't turn it around quick. Since, look at this team, no one is doing that.

Logic and reality have no place here. Stop it NOW.

 

[theRU]

If Hobbs kept Ash largely because he wanted to show any new coach they would get as much time as possible, then he proved he is even more of an idiot to fire Ash this week.

Someone looking at this job is going to be more disturbed that we would fire a coach 4 games into a season than they would be that we fired a coach after going 7-29 in three seasons.

I dont know about that... they would be fine with getting a 7 year deal. These coaches are still human and money talks

 

[krup]

I dont know about that... they would be fine with getting a 7 year deal. These coaches are still human and money talks

That wasn’t my point. He said he kept Ash partially because of the perception that firing a coach after three years is bad, then he did something worse.

 

[Rutgers36]

Yes an extension should only have been agreed to if the sanctions were significant- bowl ban, scholarship reduction, etc. They weren't so there never should have been an extension

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Hobbs made a big mistake extending Ash based on nothing much. )

He did not “extend Ash.”

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Hopefully Greg Brown pushes his weight around and brings in an outside person to review the whole football program and NOT allow Hobbs to make the football hire.
This whole dumpster fire mess was CREATED BY HOBBS.

wrong...it was “created” by Elmer Fudd. Then Hobbs has to rush through a hiring process and UNFORTUNATELY hired Ash which, as we can all agree, doubled-down on the “dumpster fire.”

...BUT continually whining about it isn’t going to change a thing. Hobbs is here, he’s staying, and he will be the ultimate decision-maker in this process (along with Greg Brown).

 

[krup]

He did not “extend Ash.”

In effect he did. You don’t give someone an extension simply based on the program being sanctioned, when NCAA sanctions can range from a letter of reprimand to lost scholarships to the death penalty.

The contract should have been written so the extension only happened if NCAA sanctions were substantive, and RU’s penalties weren’t.

 

[bitnez]

Yes an extension should only have been agreed to if the sanctions were significant- bowl ban, scholarship reduction, etc. They weren't so there never should have been an extension

It’s ironic that some fans have concerns about paying our next HC too much when Hobbs will end up paying Ash more than $7MM per year for his actual time on the job.

 

[Knight Shift]

wrong...it was “created” by Elmer Fudd. Then Hobbs has to rush through a hiring process and UNFORTUNATELY hired Ash which, as we can all agree, doubled-down on the “dumpster fire.”

...BUT continually whining about it isn’t going to change a thing. Hobbs is here, he’s staying, and he will be the ultimate decision-maker in this process (along with Greg Brown).

You are speaking to a dope. Greg Brown was intimately involved in hiring Ash. Ash flew to his interview on Greg Brown's plane. BlockR likes to ramble on about the same incorrect nonsense hoping it becomes true.

 

[needmorecowbell]

people are wondering why Hobbs didn’t fire Ash after last year instead of letting him coach four more games this year only to fire him now.

I thought about it too and cannot come up with a good or logical reason for not firing Ash after last season.

Hobbs said that he wanted to give Ash the opportunity to show “significant Improvement” this year, but based on what??!!!

What changed or what was going to change between last season and this season?

How could Hobbs have any reasonable expectation of significant improvement for this year??!!

Was Ash going to suddenly change into Urban Myers?

Was Ash going to bring in significant talent to help the team?

Was Ash going to develop our current players into B1G quality players?

Were our players going to magically increase their speed?

I just do not understand what Hobbs thought would change between last year and this to even have a hope of Ash producing significant improvement.

In short, Hobbs set up Ash and our football program for failure, not success.

Not logical at all.

Hobbs May be a good fundraiser, but his judgement with hiring and firing football coaches is highly questionable.

He really needs help where our football program is concerned.

Hobbs, please seek help from someone knowledgeable about football and who has Rutgers’ best interests at heart.

Otherwise you might get fooled again or screw things up worst then you did already.

Let me take a stab at the logic. This was a financial decision from day 1. Barchi has treated it that way since he arrived. No one could stomach the buyouts last year and so they stayed the course. I hate to say this but it’s only reasonable to give a coach a chance at 4 seasons to turn this around especially given the finances. Everyone underestimated how many fans would drop season tickets at Rutgers. They have admitted to that. Once they figured out that the drop was greater than estimated, it was clear that they no longer could wait. Action was needed when Ash put the same product back on the field. So now Barchi and Hobbs know the impact. I would agree that they should have know the impact and maybe Hobbs did but everyone is now aligned on the impact now and the urgency is there.

 

[knightinaz]

Hobbs has demonstrated to be a good Olympic sports AD which makes sense with his SHU background.

Running a B1G football program however, is a very different beast.

From the Ash hiring, the extension, and now his firing, Hobbs has been in over his head.

Firing him 4 weeks in has now turned this program into the biggest joke in college football. The starting QB & running back have officially bailed & the rest of the kids looked demoralized yesterday.

As bad as it was 4 weeks in, this thing is going to crater in the next 2 months. If the plan was/is to hire an out of work guy (Schiano or Jones) then it has to be done immediately in order to bring some sense of order to the program.

If the plan is really to wait until December as hobbs has stated then we are screwed. By that point the program will be such a mess that few will be interested in the job.

 

[ashokan]

He did not “extend Ash.”

Whatever it was it was wrong.

Rutgers' Chris Ash signs updated contract through 2022: Pat Hobbs shows '100 percent confidence'

https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2017/11/chris_ash_signs_new_5-year_contract_at_rutgers_pat.html

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Whatever it was it was wrong.

Rutgers' Chris Ash signs updated contract through 2022: Pat Hobbs shows '100 percent confidence'

https://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/2017/11/chris_ash_signs_new_5-year_contract_at_rutgers_pat.html

It was UNFORTUNATELY written into his original contract and based on potential sanctions and whatnot . Ash didn’t just wake up that morning and say “Hey, this guy is killing it, let me extend him now!!!” There was no choice here.

 

[ru1869]

In effect he did. You don’t give someone an extension simply based on the program being sanctioned, when NCAA sanctions can range from a letter of reprimand to lost scholarships to the death penalty.

The contract should have been written so the extension only happened if NCAA sanctions were substantive, and RU’s penalties weren’t.

Yes. This smells because remember both Ash and Hobbs have the same agent... hum... who won here and who loss, I know Rutgers and us fans loss B1G time!!!

 

[RU4Real]

In effect he did. You don’t give someone an extension simply based on the program being sanctioned, when NCAA sanctions can range from a letter of reprimand to lost scholarships to the death penalty.

The contract should have been written so the extension only happened if NCAA sanctions were substantive, and RU’s penalties weren’t.

It wasn't an extension. He got a 5 year deal, but the contract didn't kick in until after the sanctions were ended. Up until then he was on a contingency agreement which carried the same terms as his follow-on contract but allowed him to part ways with the school at no cost if Rutgers were to incur additional sanctions.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Yes. This smells because remember both Ash and Hobbs have the same agent... hum... who won here and who loss, I know Rutgers and us fans loss B1G time!!!

They didn’t have the same agent when Ash was hired. SMDH at some of you guys right now.

 

[chrism25]

Comon Hobbs blew this. If he was going to bring Ash back (he should have fired Ash last year) he should have let him get to the easier part of the schedule. He wasn't even smart enough to realize he would lose players who would redshirt and later transfer.

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Comon Hobbs blew this. If he was going to bring Ash back (he should have fired Ash last year) he should have let him get to the easier part of the schedule. He wasn't even smart enough to realize he would lose players who would redshirt and later transfer.

...and I’d he didn’t fire him after last week ALL the same posters would be blaming him for that so let’s cut the shit.

 

[Scarlet_Scourge]

This was Blackshear's last year no matter what.
I thought everyone here didn't like Art?

Come on.. What is this ?

 

[scarletbergen]

Hobbs Must Go!!!

Hobbs can’t hire our next coach! It will be more of the same.

It’s no wonder that Blackshear and Sitkowski bailed out on this clown show!

 

[AreYouNUTS]

Hobbs Must Go!!!

Hobbs can’t hire our next coach! It will be more of the same.

It’s no wonder that Blackshear and Sitkowski bailed out on this clown show!

Dude, give up, Hobbs isn’t going anywhere.

 

[Hondo77]

In effect he did. You don’t give someone an extension simply based on the program being sanctioned, when NCAA sanctions can range from a letter of reprimand to lost scholarships to the death penalty.

The contract should have been written so the extension only happened if NCAA sanctions were substantive, and RU’s penalties weren’t.

So many geniuses on this board who know how to spend other people’s money.

 

[NotInRHouse]

Ash was never extended, it was built into the contract if we got NCAA sanctions, that would had been there no matter who was hired. It wasn't an Ash thing. It had zero to do with Ash.

Hobbs stated that he didn't fire Ash last year because he wanted to show any new HC that they will get as much time as possible to turn things around as long as there is improvement. No good HC will want to take this job if we have a quick trigger to fire the HC if they can't turn it around quick. Since, look at this team, no one is doing that.

So the coach who thinks 3 years was not enough will be convinced that Hobbs understands because he gave 3 1/4 years?!

 

[cohwx]

Comon Hobbs blew this. If he was going to bring Ash back (he should have fired Ash last year) he should have let him get to the easier part of the schedule. He wasn't even smart enough to realize he would lose players who would redshirt and later transfer.

It's definitely strange timing. The firing seems like a knee-jerk reaction, unless there is already a plan in place or "agreement" with a certain coach (not necessarily GS). If not...why not just let the season play out and can Ash later?

This is a classically Rutgers situation, if you think about it (let's see how many ways we can botch this...) I said in another thread that watching this all play out is more entertaining than the actual football has been, so that's how I'm looking at it. I just hope that RU doesn't cheap out on this hire but if they do, I'll definitely have more free time on Saturdays to look forward to.

 

[NotInRHouse]

...and I’d he didn’t fire him after last week ALL the same posters would be blaming him for that so let’s cut the shit.

It isn't the fans job to understand NCAA transfer and redshirt rules. It's Hobbs'. It's his job also to understand the issues in the locker room and clearly he didn't understand that either.

It was also his job to understand that fans would dump season tickets en masse which was indicated on this board ad nauseum last November/December. He seemed to miss that memo too.

He would not be facing blowback had he just canned Ash last year. And don't tell me Barchi or the BOG blocked that but were down to can him 4 wins in with exactly no plan to fix anything.

Now the program is somehow in deeper free fall. When Ash was fired last week it seemed like maybe Hobbs had a grip- they're going to bring in someone not a current HC like GS or Jones to stop the bleeding and get a leg up on recruiting...we should have known better.

Hobbs has no plan, no foresight. Maybe he is great at Olympic sports and raising money but he's AWFUL at football...and that is what rives the bus here.